Police: BB gun violence poses real threat

EAST BRIDGEWATER – Barbara Jones was just feet from the windows of her Spring Street home when the BB gun pellets began pinging off her house.

“I was just sitting in my recliner watching TV when all of a sudden I heard this pinging sound on the windows,” the East Bridgewater resident said. “I went out and saw the holes in the windows... I said, ‘Oh my god, somebody shot my windows!’”

When Jones called the police on March 29 at about 10 p.m., they found four holes in her front windows and BB pellets strewn not far from her house.

Thankfully, Jones said, the BB pellets weren’t strong enough to break through her home’s windows. But now, with BB gun vandals targeting – and shattering – car windows throughout the region, Jones is concerned someone is going to get hurt.

“I hope they catch them before they do hurt someone,” Jones said.

While pellet and BB guns – the weapon of choice for local vandals taking aim at car windows– may not be as lethal as real guns, they can still do plenty of damage, as victims are learning.

Since June 27, evidence of BB or pellet gun–related vandalism has been reported at dozens of homes and business in at least seven local communities: Whitman, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Raynham, Bridgewater, Halifax and Hanson.

In most cases, the recent shootings have targeted unoccupied cars parked in residential driveways, some occurring over night and others during the day but a car window was shattered by pellet gun fire as the vehicle was being driven in Weymouth Thursday night, police said..

BB and pellet guns are air guns that use compressed air to fire small pellet projectiles.

Since the March 29 shooting on Jones’ home, police have not recovered pellets from any of the 28 homes and vehicles targeted since.

But, based on the severity of damage and marks left behind on the windows left unbroken, police said they are confident a BB or pellet gun is causing the vandalism.

With the strength to shatter windows and and take down small animals from hundreds of yards away, BB guns are surprisingly easy to obtain.

Any person at least 18 years old can purchase a BB gun without a firearm identification card. The BB guns are sold at local stores such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Wal-Mart and Sports Authority for a cost of $20 to $400, depending on the make, model and type of BB or pellet gun.

It’s not uncommon to encounter air guns connected to criminal activity, police said.

In March 2010, The Enterprise reported on a similar string of BB-related shootings. Two Plymouth teenagers, Shawn Ackerman and John Duarte II, were eventually charged for using BB guns to shoot at passing cars driving on Route 3 in Plymouth.

The teens’ antics resulted in shattered windows on at least nine vehicles. In one such case, the BB struck the glass just inches from where a 5-year-old passenger was sitting.

More recently, in August 2016, Vanildo Fernandes of Brockton flashed a black BB gun as if it were a real handgun in order to pull-off an armed robbery outside the Brockton’s East Side Market.

In May 2017, after a drive-through dispute at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Brockton, a customer pulled a BB gun on the store manager and shattered the drive-through windows before driving off.

The toy guns are manufactured to look like near-identical replicas of real guns, which makes it difficult for law enforcement and civilians to recognize the difference.

“There’s supposed to be an orange plastic piece on the front,” East Bridgewater Sgt. Michael McLaughlin said, “but most kids snap it off anyway.”

The close resemblance to real guns can create serious problems for everyone involved when law enforcement officials come across them in the line of duty.

In July 2015, a Brockton man, 45-year-old Douglas Buckley, was shot and killed by two Brockton police officers when he brandished two BB guns – a rifle and handgun – that looked like authentic guns.

Even though Buckley’s wife had warned police ahead of time that he had access to the two BB guns, when face-to-face with Buckley and his BB guns, police had no way of knowing for sure whether they were real.

Local law enforcement officers run into similar situations involving BB guns more often than one might think, according to McLaughlin.

“A few years back, I had a kid that we pulled over and when we went to inventory the car we found what looked like a Glock in the trunk and it ended up being an Airsoft gun with the safety tip removed. I actually took pictures of it next to a regular Glock and you could not tell the difference.”

Local police are continuing to investigate the recent string of shootings, police said, but they urged residents to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity.